Sabres at Maple Leafs
In what has been a forgettable season for the Buffalo Sabres, there finally was reason to celebrate when coach Ted Nolan made a triumphant return in Friday's 3-1 home victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Nolan, who guided the Sabres for two seasons from 1995-97, was named interim coach following the firing of Ron Rolson on Wednesday. Buffalo has won back-to-back games for the first time this season and will go for a third straight victory in a rematch at Toronto on Saturday.
The Maple Leafs have been riddled by injuries and a suspension at the center position, and the result has been a collapse of their offense. Toronto has lost three in a row and managed only four goals during its current 1-3-1 stretch. "We're just not getting the results," coach Randy Carlyle said. "We've had chances, we had glorious opportunities. It's just that right now we're squeezing the sticks or we're getting hit in the shaft or players making a big stop."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (Buffalo), CBC
ABOUT THE SABRES (5-15-1): Nolan basked in the glow of coaching his first NHL game since 2008 with the New York Islanders and his first victory with Buffalo since May 1997. "You didn’t know this type of day would ever happen again," Nolan said. "It was really very emotional,so I’ll have a good cry after everybody leaves." Captain Steve Ott had a goal and an assist in Friday's victory, marking the first time he had a multi-point performance since March 19.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (11-7-1): Overshadowed by the recent offensive swoon has been a string of strong performances in net from Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer. Bernier has started three of the last four games and has only one win to show for it despite surrendering only four goals, while Reimer allowed two tallies in his last start at Boston last weekend. One positive in Friday's defeat was center Trevor Smith, who scored the lone goal after he was called up from the minors earlier in the day.
OVERTIME
1. Toronto had been outshot in 15 consecutive games before halting the streak Friday.
2. Sabres G Ryan Miller improved to 30-15-1 lifetime against the Maple Leafs, becoming the second active goalie (Martin Brodeur) with 30 wins against one opponent.
3. Maple Leafs C Nazem Kadri will serve the second contest of his three-game suspension on Saturday.